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Managing Your Environment
Part IV: Managing Holidays
By Ray Ford
 Did you know that many savvy operators double and some
even triple their monthly sales each year in December over November?
Now is the time to begin to put some energy on the Christmas season.
Here are two marketing-for-money strategies that each can produce big
results when properly implemented.
Strategy One: Holiday Gift Certificate Programs
 Would you like to raise some extra cash — $1,000 — maybe up to
$10,000? It’s all possible when you create a Holiday Gift Certificate
Program. Here is what to do:
• Create books of 11, $10 gift certificates, a $110 value that sells
for $100. (Did you know that 5-10 percent of all gift certificates are
NEVER redeemed?)
It is recommended that you always include two key items on a gift
certificate: Expiration date — June 30, 2006 (you still have the option
to redeem after that if you wish). These gift certificates can be
redeemed for products, services during the first half of 2006. Insert
the phrase, “Not redeemable for cash,” which is very common today.
NOTE: Like pre-paid phone cards, gift certificates also are easy to
produce as debit cards and can be sold in $10, $25 and $50
denominations.
Both of theses concepts have merit. Choose the type that’s best for you, or use both options.
• Hire an aggressive person to hit the streets and market this program.
Look for someone who wants to make extra bucks over the holidays. This
person currently might be working for hotel sales and catering, or he
or she could be a marketing major at a nearby college. Set up a sales
incentive program for your staff who volunteer to sell the program
outside of the business. Here are two examples: (1) everyone who sells
more than six books earns a 10 percent cash commission; (2) the
employee who sells the most books earns a free book which they can use
or sell. Also, develop a very personal letter from yourself that will
be used as a direct mail piece. Also, a side benefit is that the
program, if marketed to the right demographics in the locale, can
produce a lot of new, first-time faces and bring back some guests who
haven’t been to the venue in awhile.
Strategy Two: Christmas Season Party Opportunities
1. Determine what you have to offer. Example: You might have a club that seats 400, a small lounge/bar that seats 60 and a banquet room for 90 people.
2. Take each area and break it down into day-parts, i.e.:
• 11 a.m.-2p.m. — lunch
• 2-4 p.m. — mid-afternoon
• 4-7p.m. — Happy Hour
• 7-10 p.m. — early evening
• 10 p.m.-close — late night
WOW! That’s five time periods per room (area) per day.
3. Decide which time periods per room (area) would be available to book for special parties and holiday celebrations.
NOTE: Even in times when you’re open for business, you might have some
capacity for special private parties in areas that are open to the
public.
4. Pick target days from the month of December. Example: Target
the three-week period, Dec. 2nd through Dec. 21st as your window of
opportunity. Let’s say that for the three-week period you’ve determined
that you have three slots available daily Monday through Friday (15)
and four each on Saturday and Sunday (8). That’s room for 23 potential
parties per week — and 23 times three — equals 69 possible bookings.
5. Now for the fun stuff. Figure how many people you can
accommodate in each room (area) each day and multiply that number by,
say, a conservative $10 check average spent per person. Use these
figures in preparing a rate card for groups who inquire or who you
solicit for parties. Also, these numbers can be the basis for creating
sales goals and projection for your team.
The bottom line: Using this formula, you might be surprised to learn
that the first three weeks of December offer a potential $5,000,
$10,000, even $20,000 in potential sales over your normal sales for the
period depending on the size/capacity of your area. The challenge,
then, is to figure out how to capture a major portion of these
potential sales.
6. Create the position of Sales and Promotions Manager in your organization.
This individual could be yourself, a current manager or department head
who has the capacity to take on more duties, or this could be a new job
position for a full or part-time person who works on a draw plus an
earned commission based on bookings and sales. NCB
About the author: Industry guru Ray V. Ford, is a 30-year
hospitality industry veteran and a founding member of the Nightclub
& Bar Advisory Board. As a top industry consultant, Ford has worked
for the who’s who of the hospitality industry on more than 100
projects. He also has helped clients to build, open and operate more
than 50 concepts in hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
This is an except from Mr, Ford’s best selling book, "101 Ways To
Make The Cash Register Ring!” Bar/Nightclub Management & Marketing,
To order or learn more, click here: http://www.HospitalityIndustryResourceCenter.com.
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